Thursday, November 11, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

IFFI:800 filmmakers to make movies in 48 hours!

Posted: 11 Nov 2010 07:47 AM PST

Amateur and professional filmmakers have been invited to participate in a marathon filmmaking project called The Mumbai 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP). In a 48-hour stretch over a weekend, participants are expected to script, shoot, edit and score for their films and submit the final entries by Sunday. The real challenge is that every film has to incorporate three elements – a line of dialogue, a prop and a character – which are decided on the spot at the Kick Off.

The response is phenomenal this year with over 80 teams taking part in the Mumbai leg of this international filmmaking competition. Over 800 filmmakers have signed up from across the country including cities like Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune among others. The filmmaking weekend is from Friday Nov. 12 to Sunday Nov. 14, 2010. The challenge is that the genre and three elements will be disclosed on Friday at a Kick Off event.

“This year’s line-up of jury and prizes is great,” says Preeti Gopalkrishnan and Yogi Chopra, the Mumbai Producers. Among the renowned film personalities supporting the event are Amol Palekar, Nagesh Kukunoor, Dolly Thakore, Balki, Paromita Vohra, Shimit Amin, Manish Jha and Niranjan Iyengar. All the jury members are excited to see what the 48-hour filmmaking format churns out. On Friday the jury will interact with the teams at a panel discussion on the format of short films and how it is relevant to the industry today.

Director Nagesh Kukunoor says, “The 48-hour format is a great precursor to the real world of filmmaking which is fraught with ridiculous deadlines, a ton of pressure from all sides but pure unadulterated fun! I’m looking forward to some crazy creativity!”

A filmmaker who started off with short films, Manish Jha is thankful to this form which became his platform for his first feature, the hard-hitting Mathrubhoomi, A Village Without Women. Theatre actor and socialite Dolly Thakore hopes aspiring filmmakers will use this rare opportunity to channelize their creative energies into something productive. Niranjan Iyengar, lyricist and screen-dialogue writer of several Bollywood blockbusters Kal Ho Na Ho, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, My Name is Khan hopes that this competition spurs “fresh vision”, which is lacking in mainstream filmmaking.

The top prize is the Best Film – Mumbai which then becomes a contender for the Best

International Film. Mumbai’s Best Film will also be screened at the Miami International Film Festival 2011. “The most coveted prize is the chance for 10 Best Films from the world over to be screened at the Cannes 2011 Film Festival’s Short Film Corner. We have also tied up with the 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Goa to screen the top films from Mumbai,” says Yogi. Other films will be screened at Whistling Woods International and a prominent Mumbai college to open audience.

Screenings will also be held in November to showcase the Mumbai films through film clubs and societies like the Friends of Cinema, Bombay Elektrik Project and Enlighten. “The whole effort was directed at giving the best films and filmmakers their due by taking them beyond just the competition,” adds Preeti.

In keeping with the international format, the competition will be flagged off on a Friday at a Kick Off Party, where the teams will be allotted their film genres including Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Film de Femme, Film Noir, Horror, Mockumentary, Musical or Western, Road Movie, Romance, Sci Fi, Silent Film and Thriller/Suspense. Jury members are being invited to interact with the participants at this party to inspire them on how to make the best of their 48 hours. A sleepless, chaotic 48 hours later on Sunday evening, the teams have to submit their completed films.

Courtesy:TOI

CBI recorded staatement of 58 witnesses in IFFI case in Goa

Posted: 11 Nov 2010 12:53 AM PST

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Narayanswami , holding the charge of Shri Prithviraj Chavan's portfolio of Personnel, informed Mr Shantaram Naik M.P. in the Rajya sabha, today, in a written reply to Mr Naik's question that CBI has recorded statements of 58 witnesses in the matter of the investigation of case pertaining to International Film Festival of India,  and that ,the  investigation is in final stages.

Mr Narayanswami further told Mr Naik that the investigation officers along with the officials of CPWD have visited the sites in question to conduct the technical inspection.

No person has been arrested in this case so far, and that, no definite time-frame can be indicated at this stage for filing the charge sheet., minister said.

Goa wants visas to be issued in 10 days to up tourist inflow

Posted: 10 Nov 2010 09:32 AM PST

In an attempt to contain drop in foreign tourist arrivals in Goa due to visa issues, the state government has requested the Centre to ensure that the process to issue visa be cut short from three weeks to ten days.

The state has written to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna after few of the chartered flights had to delay their landing in Goa due to visa problems.

The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) had addressed this issue to the state government fearing that it will hamper the foreign tourist inflow in the coastal state.

“When TTAG approached us on this visa issue, we escalated the matter to the state Tourism Minister as well as the Chief Minister immediately,” State Tourism Director Swapnil Naik told PTI over e-mail from London, where he is on an official visit.

Naik claimed that S M Krishna has promised to review the situation and possibly reduce the time required for processing tourist visas from the present three weeks to about a week or 10 days.

“Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has also urged Krishna to look into the matter urgently, while on a recent visit to Delhi,” he added.

State Tourism Minister Nilkant Halarnkar said the state is committed towards encouraging tourism and support the industry in every way.

TTAG was apprehensive after chartered flights from Poland delayed their arrivals by one and half months. The state lost around 1500 tourists after seven flights from Poland were cancelled due to delay in issuing visa.

The operators were supposed to have weekly chartered flight from first week of November but it was postponed till December 15.

Courtesy:ET
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